In the days and even hours leading up to the legislature’s unofficial summer recess last week, there was a flurry of activity in the State House. In the hubbub of lawmaking that took place, there were a few no-brainer bills that passed, but more contentious ones – like the court reorg bill– came down to the wire. Among the bills passed was the long awaited and widely supported alimony reform law. Sailing through with unanimous support in both branches of the legislature, it will make its way to the governor’s desk once agreement is reached between House and Senate differences in the bill. Also receiving a unanimous vote in the Senate was the bill to provide post-conviction access to DNA.

To an outside observer, or any of the tourists trying to peek their heads inside the jam-packed upper gallery of the Senate Chamber last Thursday, it may have seemed like just another formal session in the Senate. Senators milled around the chamber, staff came and went. At 1 p.m., the Senate convened and immediately went into a recess. Thirty minutes later, Senate President Murray was at the rostrum long enough to recite the pledge of allegiance before recessing again for a few moments. Over the next hour, after a whirl of activity on various Senate bills, alimony reform was finally taken up and engrossed by a roll call vote of 36-0. Applause broke out in the Senate Gallery and in the hallway outside.

Next up: access to DNA. Senator Cynthia Creem took the floor and spoke in support of the bill. She recognized Betty Anne Waters and the BBA for their contribution to this legislative effort, drawing members of the Senate to stand and applaud their work. Seven amendments to the bill were then taken up. Of those seven, two were withdrawn, one was rejected, and the remaining four were adopted. When the roll call was taken, the bill passed 37-0.

It may have looked easy and effortless, but it actually felt chaotic. The day before, Senate Ways & Means released the access to DNA bill with improvements and changes. After reading through the revised bill, the BBA had a few suggestions and asked Senator Creem to file an amendment, to which she agreed. On the morning of the scheduled Senate debate, other senators filed even more amendments to the bill. These last minute amendments sparked discussions in the Senate hallways and on email. Even in the moments before the start of the Senate session we were still trying to fix loopholes that the additions to the bill had opened up.

Then, finally…a signal from the Senate floor. A senior Senate staffer looked towards the gallery and flashed a thumbs up. Just like that, it was over. The bill had passed unanimously, capping off a monumental afternoon for those who had labored for years on this issue. While pausing to take in what had just happened, it was nice to see the House sponsor, Representative John Fernandes, waiting one floor down outside the Senate Chamber. Rep. Fernandes indicated that he is looking forward to taking this issue up on the House side once the legislature comes back from its summer recess.